SPEECH 



F 880 
.Vi63 
Copy 1 



OF THB 



HON. WM. W. WICK, OF INDIANA, 



ON THE 



OREGON QUESTION 



DELIVERED 



IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 



JANUARY 30, 1846. 



WASHINGTON: 

PRINTED AT THE UNION OFFICE. 

1846. 



SPEECH 



On the resolution of notice to Great Britain to abrogate the cowvention of joint 

occupancy relative to the Oregon territory. 



The House being in Committee of the Whole on 
the State of the Union — 

Mr. WICK rose and addressed tVie committee as 
follows: 

He was in a place, he said, in which it had been 
juatly remarked that one could neither speak nor 
hear, and in which, in point of fact, little that 
was aaid was heard. Though aware of this difficul- 
ty, he should undertake the task of speaking, and, 
atrange as it might seem, not for Buncombe, but for 
this House. 

Hia good constituents at home had been quietly 
enjoj/ingthe Christmas holyday, eating their ducks 
and turkeys, or pursuing their ordinary avocations, 
and were perfectly unconscious that their represent- 
ative here had for the last two or three weeks ex- 
hibited the ungraceful figure of sitting here, leaning 
upon a desk, crouched like a catamount watching 
for prey, and waiting for the moment to spring 
forward, at the close of each of some hundred or 
more speeches, and, at the top of his voice, cry out 
"Mr. Chairman !" His constituents had heard 
Rothirg of this; but he meant to tell them about it 
•when he got home, and let them know that the 
difficulty here is, not to make a speech, but to ob- 
tain the floor for the purpose of making one. 

No vf that I have obtained the floor, Mr. Chair- 
man, (said Mr. W.,) I find that it is a privilege 
scarcely vi orth rejoicing over, for everything had 
been &aid that could be said on the subject, and it 
was now perfectly exhausted. There was not an 
infinitismal point which had not been made the 
aubject of a long speech; and I am too proud (said 
Mr. W.) to repeat what others have said before. 
What, then, shall 1 do? In the Comrahtee of the 
Whole on the state of the Union, I believe it is in 
order to speak of matters and things in general, and 
also to respond to things which had been said by 



some things which had been said in the debate to 
which no direct answer has been made, and I (said 
Mr. W.) will attend to them. 

While we are engaged here in deliberating upon 
a subject concerning our foreign relations — the most 
delicate of all topics discussed here — he could well 
comprebei'd the propriety of not "o'erstepping the 
mcdoaty of nature," and of measuring every sen- 
tence by the dictates of calm discretion and pru- 
-cJedce. He would erdeavor to control himself ac- 



cordingly, and to "let his moderation be seen." 
Yet he felt at liberty to remember that he was th« 
representative of a fearless and independent people, 
who speak their minds in free oft-hand style — al- 
ways, however, in courtesy, or, what is better, good 
nature. 

At an early stage of this debate we had been told 
by an honorable member from South Carolina [Mr. 
Uhett] that the West and Northwest had claimed 
a special interest in this question; and in other quar- 
ters it seemed to be understood as a western or 
northwestern question. He (Mr. W.) would say 
that the Northwest had a strong interest in this 
question. So had the entire country; and he (Mr. 
W.) was surprised to see the representatives from 
some portions of the country apparently blind to 
that interest. 

The honorable member from South Carolina [Mr. 
PcHett] had, in addressing the committee, seen prop- 
er to infer or suppose that the Northwest was de- 
sirous, by means of this question, to bring on a war 
for war's sake, and on the supposition that war 
would be profitable to the northwest in a pecuniary 
point of view; and in this conclusion, so dishonora- 
ble to the Northwest, the member from South Caro- 
lina [Mr. Rhett] is fully sustained by some foreign 
newspapers, and by some of the opposition papera 
at home. Sir, (said Mr. W.,) I live in the North- 
west, and 1 know what the feelings and tlie wishes 
of her people ai-e much better than the gentleman 
does. He guesses, but I know. I would take his 
word upon any subject concerning which his means 
of informing himself were ample and mine limited; 
and he may take my word when I tell him that he 
has been grossly misinformed. I have never seen 
a man in the Northwest who wanted a war for the 
sake of war, or of any supposed pecuniary profit 
to result from it. We, sir, are afraid of the evils of 



others in the course of this discussion. There ari^, war, for it would deprive us of our market for our 



products, and of many of the blessiogs which we 
enjoy. War would bring as much trouble to us as 
to any part of the country. We would never wish 
for a war, either for profit or glory. 

Again, it has been said that the West wants a 
war, or a war fever, for the purpose of making a 
northwestern President. What is the gentle- 
man's position in regard to this allegation.' Did the 
gentleman refer to the distinguished senator from 
Missouri. [Mr. Bfnton?] If so, what will become 



of that geutleman's hobby, the hard-money system, 
if a war ehould take place? A war would at once 
deprive him of all the benefit of his long advocacy 
of the hard-money principle; for his untiring advo- 
cacy of which the northwest has so much and so 
long admired him; for, as the honorable gentlemem 
from South Carolina says, an era of war is always 
an era of paper money. 

Does the gentleman refer to a distinguished citi- 
zen of Michigan and senator from that Statd" That 
distinguished gentleman lives within eleven hun 
dred yards of the British line, and the occurrence of 
a war would inevitably consign his houses to the 
flames, and his property to destruction. Why 
ehould he invoke a war? But still (said Mr. W.) I 
do expect that, in the course of our history, the 
northwest will, at a short day, too, furnish an actu- 
al live President of the United States, to the great 
Empire State, the Ancient Dominion, and to South 
Carolina. And I do not think that we shall be obliged 
to make a war for the purpose of effecting that ob- 
ject. Living in the West, I am well informed as to 
ite feelings, and I speak with confidence in regard 
to them. It has been said by the honorable niem- 
ber from South Carolina, [Mr. Rhett,] that we in 
the northwest have nothing to lose by a war, as 
we export nothing, whereas the South would lose 
the market for her cotton. The honorable gentle- 
man from South Carolina was evidently misin- 
formed on this subject. The wheat and other 
products of the northwest found its way to 
England, formerly through Canada, but now 
directly. The northwest makes as many clear 
dollars in proportion to her population from the 
export of her wheat and other products, as 
South Carolina does from the export of her cot- 
ton. The prices of our produce are as well under- 
stood in Liverpool, and London, and Charleston, as 
is the price of cotton. We sell our produce wher- 
ever It is wanted— to England, when her starvin"- 
population require it, and to South Carolina, when 
her cotton and rice crops are good, and her terrapin 
erop fads. 

In reference to the sentiment which the gentleman 
from South Carolina had advanced, that those 
should not hazard a public war — wholesale murder 
—who do not defend their personal honor accord- 
ing to the peculiar fashion adopted in some parts of 
the world, because, they say, that tends to murder, 
I wdl say that the gentleman is mistaken, if he 
applies It to us of the northwest, for we do defend 
our personal honor, according to our own code. The 
gentleman cannot refuse us our own way of doing 
this, while he remains a consistent advocate of State 
Bovereignty and State rights. 

The gentleman cannot gainsay that Indiana, for 
example, is a sovereign State, and therefore entitled 
to establish her own customs and usages. In ex- 
treme cases, sir, according to our custom, two gen- 
tlemen lock themselves up in a room in the third- 
story, and then proceed to assert their personal hon- 
or; and he that jumps out of the window, at the end 
of a half-hour, carrying with him the ears, eyes, no- 
jses, &c. belonging to both is the victor. That, sir," 
is our code; and when the whole world, (I mean the 
civilized world,) shall adopt it, we will fight the 
whole world according to that system for Oregon, or 
on any other point. In the event of the universal 
adoption of this mode, the non-voting constituents 
of the honorable member from South Carolina would 
be admirable combatants, in a war with England, 
it would be nigger against cockney. 



But the gentleman is excusable for knowing liltk 
of the northwest, for he has never been there. No 
one ever emigrates from Indiana to South Carolina, 
and therefore South Carolina knows nothing about 
us; but many emigrants from South Carolina conae 
among us, and tell us all about it; and they had 
taken occasion to tell us of the raanifokl 
merits and great achievements of that State. I have 
reason to admire that old State on many accounts. 
She has taught us the revenue-tariff doctrine; for 
though it came to us originally from Virginia, it 
was doubly distilled by South Carolina into a con- 
centrated essence, and we swallowed it, and loved 
the dose. We admire South Carolina, also, for her 
talented sons. We admire her honorable bearing. 
"We acknowledge her right to «ecede from the 
Union, and will give her, or any other discontented 
State, a pass for that purpose. But we do not 
recognise her right to remain in the Union, and yet j 
nullify the laws of the Union. The course of 
South Carolina is always rather eccentric, in our 
estimation. She will at one time oppose the elec- 
tion of a President, and then support him after his 
election; and at another time she will contribute t© 
elect a President, and then oppose his administra- 
tion. We think she sometimes has carried h&r 
viewsof State sovereignty a leetk too far — to wit, 
when she affected to nullify the laws of the United 
States; and that in her pohtical course she is a 
leetlc too South Carolinaish. But one thing we will ■ 
say for South Carolina: we will excuse her and i 
her politicians from the charge of any presidential , 
aspirations at the present time. The finger-board i 
that directed to the White House, pointed also &.1 ■■ 
the late election to Texas and Oregan, and now it • 
pointed to Oregon alone; and there is no other way i 
by which the executive mansion can be reached. I 
do not see South Carolina on that road. >. 

1 now turn my attention to my democratic 
whig friend from Illinois, [Mr. Bakeh,] who hat? 
asked the supporters of Mr. Polk to reconcile 
our clear and unquestionable right to Oregon 
with the offer of the 49th parallel as a compromise, , 
He asked how Mr. Polk, after making such an as « 
sertion of our title, could offer a compromiee. 1 do i 
not find in the message that Mr. Polk described any ( 
particular Oregon as ours. There is Russian Ore- s 
gon, for instance, and Mr. Polk could not claim tj 
that. The assertion was made in regard to our title i 
to the whole of our Oregon — to that part of J 
the territory to which our right should be J 
ascertained. How that right should be aneer- 
taincd he does not say. Perhaps it must be 
by the ^^ullitna ratio res^um.''^ But the President 
was partially committed upon this subject by the 
action of his predecessors, to offer the 49th par- 
allel not as a right, but as a compromise, for the 
sake of peace — so his message tells us. Will a 
Clay man reprehend him for this, when the same 
offer was made by Mr. Clay himself, although he 
had said that Gre^t Britain had no colorable title to 
any part of Oregon? 

My friend from South Carolina [Mr. Hoimrb,! 
has also made some remarks on this subject, to 
which I must pay some attention. The gentleman 
had contended more strongly for the British right to 
Oregon, and has more strongly denied the Ameri- 
can rights there, than any British statesman or nego- 
tiator has ever done. I will turn the honorable gen- 
tleman over to his particular friend the honorable 
chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for 
an answer to his argument on that point The gen 



I 



^ 



1 



Ueman had very poetically described the evila, and 
disastcra, and destruction of a war. His description 
of British triumphs and American defeat?, whicli lie 
anticipates, 'm vastly more poetic and^raphic than 
will he any British song written after the war shall 
be over to record its events. The gentleman, in 
his description cf the immense power of Great 
Britain, said that she had forty war-s!eamer3. 

Mr. Holmes. One hundred and forty. 

Mr. W. continued. Well, let them bring them 
all on, no matter hov/ many, they c^n do us very 
little harm. According to the gentleman, we shall 
be very badly oiT for means of de.''ence or offence, 
for he saya that our little privateers, and all our 
vessels, as soon as they leave port will be out-run, 
overtaken, and captured by the British steamers. 1 
know (said Mr. W.) that (ho British are great mo- 
nopolizers; but I never heard before that they had 
obtained the exclusive patent to the use of God Al- 
nnighty's steam. I hope that we also can exercise the 
right of using it; for if v/e are deprived of that rig'it, 
we shall next be denied the use of the wiiid. The gen- 
tleman has also asked us how we are going to take 
Oregon? whether we can march an araiy across the 
Rocky mountain"?.' He says v/e cannot, for every 
height would prove a. Gibraltar, and that every 
rocky pass, and every vale in Oregon, will bristle 
with British bayonets. Alas! we h.-ive noriSesI: 
Our riflemen are all dead!) Where are our rifles 
and' riflemen? If a loyal subject of England asked 
the question, I v/ou!J ansv/er that our rifles were al! 
taken, and our riflemen v/ere all killed at the battle of 
liew Orleans! ! But v/e cannot take Canada: that, the 
gentleman says, is impossible, because the Welland 
ranal would afford the means of transporting British 
tleets to the lakes, and iliat we could never got across 
to Canada, the Bi-iiish having command of the 
lakes. We cannot cross on the ice, he says, in the 
winter .season, bocau;c the British would lay down 



lowder kegs, all m one continued row, from the 



ii'alls of Niagara to the northwest corner of Lake 
Superior, tl\en touch them off by a galvanic commu- 
t)ication, and blow up the whole of the jce. Now, 
sir, these powder kegs must be all in a string, and 
idl connected together; and there must not be a leaky 
t)ne among them, and no Yankee must iind it out, lest 
he arrangement should be disturbed. Sir, the gen- 
.leman knows nothing of our climate in tlie north- 
ivest. Why, sir, you may blow up the whole of 
.he ice one night, and the water v/ill bt frozen 
3ver again the next night. Ths British government 
fvill have to get .something stronger thnn gunpowder 
for this purpose. No article knov^'n to her extensive 
lommerce will answer the purpose. She must deal 
n young volcanoes, and import some small speci- 
toens of the infernal regions to keep the lakes th.aw- 
^d in winter lime. I am gratified, however, to learn 
rom the lionorable gentleman tliat South Carolina 
(vill be able to look out for herself in time of war, 
Ind that she will ensconse herself in her swamps, 
where she will be out of harm's v/ay. 

The gentleman asserted for South Carolina, and 
';e sons of Marion, of Sumter, and Pinckney, the 

pa<",ity to retreat into her impenetrable fastncsse.-i, 

lid there deffnd her against the v.'orld. In tlie 
:vent of a v/ar for Oregon, will South Carolina thus 
;reep into her shell? 

Mr. Hoi.MK'?. I said v/e v/ou)d come to j'our 
tissistance. 

We thank you, (said Mr. \V.,) u;id I will say to 
South Carolina, that when the northern fanatics 
hall trouble her, we will come to her rescue. 



The gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Giddings'j has 
threatened the South with a w.ir o! fminr.ipation, 
and an invasion by the black regi neiii.^ from the 
West Indies. The southern gentifnen have pre- 
ferred -to answer him. They hail Ixiier leive the 
one idea and its professors to us of the northwest. 
I had an answer for the genthmiur a-^ t.) this most 
untastcful devel(>pment of his one idea. We in 
the northvi^est know h.is ways, for wc have a few 
of his party in Indiana. I v/ill waive my answer 
to him, but will say to him that my non-si ivehold- 
ing constituents mean that justice shall be done ta,, 
the South and its constitutional right.«; for so intense 
is their anxiety on th.is subject, lest it should dis- 
turb the harmony of the Union, that ihev ure ready 
to do full and amnlejustice to the South. If I should 
endorse v.-hat was said by the honorable member 
from Missouri — viz: that the getitlein.oi's wish was 
father to his thought — my non-slaveholding constit- 
uents would believe me; and were they V^ read hia 
[Mr. G.'s] speech, they would swear to their be- 
lief of tlie idea suggested by the honor ibie member 
from Missouri. We in the West do not lenounce 
these men, but rather laugh at them, and at their 
utter failure to propagate their Union-destroying 
principles. But, sir, I can devote no more time to 
answering the remarks of those who have preceded 
me. Were I to go into a full notice and refutation 
of arguments against the measure before the com- 
mittee, it would consume twenty hours iiistpad of 
one. The little time which is left to ivie I will de- 
vote to the consideration of the cpiestion; and iff. 
am asked why my speech contains no more about 
Oregon, 1 will answer that almost every thing ha."? 
been said over and over again in the course of the 
debate. I am not careful wljcther or not my opin- 
ions will he deemed heretical on this subject, when 
I say that I am for Oregon and against a war; buv 
for Oregon, v/ar or no war. 

I adopt (said .Mr. W.) the opinion of the venera- 
ble gentleman from Massachusetts, [Mr. Ad.vms,] 
and ofthn chairman of tlie Committee on Foreign Re- 
lations, [Mr. Ingersoll,] as to the proper construc- 
tion of the convention of 1S27 — to wit: that it is a 
commercial treaty, stipulating for a joint occupancy 
for the ])urpr.'ses of trade, 'riie logic of all thosa 
gentleman who h.ad spoken in favor of Oregf)n ap- 
pears to ^je very sound; and therefore I adopt prin- 
cipally all the views of gentlemen who l'.ad spoken 
on this side of the subject; and I have transmitted 
many of their speeches to my constituency, there- 
by, in the main, endorsing their views, and making 
my own known. 

1 am determined to claim all Oregon, and am rea- 
dy to claim all the continent, upon the principle of 
manifest destiny urged by the gentleman iVom Illi- 
nois [Mr. Baker] and my transcendental friend 
from Pennsylvania [Mr. Levin.] 

lam not accustomed to deal in poetry, and there- 
fore gentlemen must excuse me for noi introducing 
any in my remarks ; but 1 am perfectly willing irr 
take all the poetry that has been recited here, goo(S 
and bud, applicable or not, and whether new or old 
acquaintances. So in regard to all the declaratiotv? 
v/hich have been made in the debate ag'.inst th<s 
abominations of the British government : I adopt 
the whol3 of them; and, moreover, I hop:^ that their 
autiiors will consider thai, after having done their 
best, were I to launch out on that subject, they 
would be most signally outdone. 

Sir, I do not bL'lieve that we shall take the whole 
world; but if wc do not, oar principles wi!!. Our 



t>rinciples are extending all over the world. The 
last war did much to extend them, and another will 
extend them further. We h;ive seen gradual en- 
croachment on the monopolies and governmental 
abuses of the Old World, and we have witnessed 
the concessions made by them to populcir rights. 
Lately we have witnessed the yielding of British 
ninislers to the progress of liberal principles; and 
oh! how grudgingly do tliey make any concession. 
All this is the result of the American principles in 
•favor of equal rights and popular self-government 
becoming gradually known to the world. The ulti 
mate triumph of our principles, such as progressive 
democracy will make them, is sure, and it will come 
in God's own gooil time. 

We started at the la'e election with our princi- 
ples — the reduction of the tariff, Texas, and Ore- 
gon. One of them has been carried triumphantly 
through, and the tariff reform and Oregon remain to 
be disposed of. 1 presume that a few democrats 
will be found missing when we come to the vote on 
the Oregon question. Well, 1 hope there will be 
enough democrats left to carry the measure; and we 
are desirous to Ciirry it independently of the action 
of our political opponents- We would not desire 
to be, like a di.itiiiguished whig member in 1841, 
[Mr. Wise,] obliged to appeal to our adversaries to 
"save us fr^iiji our friends," and to look around us 
to hunt up republicans. I see public opinion rally- 
ing around this question, and that democrats and 
whigs are sendirig up their prayers here for Ore- 
gon, their country, its integrity and honor. I am 
glad to see that, on this truly American question, 
our political opponents here instructed by their con- 
stituencies, are, many of them, about to give their 
voices to us upon this question; but I would be 
yet more delighted to see the party to which I be- 
long a unit now as heretofore. 

In the northwest, we go for all the i.?sues of 1844. 
1 regret to see thtit some portion of the party in Con- 
gress is hanging back: perhaps it is expected to 
save the tariff of 1842. I hear of a drag on that 
point, of some inipracticable Pennsylvanians who 
will not sustain us in carryii.g out all the principles 
of 1844. I will t:ay to our political opponents that 
if we should find Pennsylvania a "fixed fact" in the 
way of our tariff reform, yor. cannot laugl? at up for 
it. So if South Carolina siiould bT a "fixed fact" in 
our vv'ay on the Oregon question, you need not jeer 
us. Our opponents cannot Isuigh at us even should 
^ve fail; for we have gained Texas even should we 
lose the tariff reform and Oregon, and that is much 
morr" than yon gained. What did you get by your 
victory iu lb'4(l •' Nothing but the distribution law, 
which we repealed in a few months after. But you 
cannot repeal tiie annexation of Texas. I am glad 
to sec that we have many honorable friends on the 
other side of the House, who, although at the late 
election they considered Oregon a humbug, now 
find themselves paralized by the will of their con- 
Sitituents; and I would not discourage them from 
taking that <'ourse which they now found expe- 
diert, even by a taunt which 1 am incapable of ut- 
tering. 

I have said that 1 believed this treaty to be strict- 
ly commercial in its character; and, therefore, I care 
not wJiat we may do, it will not violate its provi- 
aions so long as we leave the British in possession 
of their .vtipu luted rights. ! think that we can do 
all ui der it that Great Britain has done, and some- 
fhing more. We may organize a Territorial govern- 
.T>pnt ill Oregon, and eve-i admit it as j State of the 



Union. We may take military possession of it for 
the purposecf defending our yettlers there from the 
Indians; and all this we have a right to do before | 
we give the notice. If the President had not re- | 
commended the notice, I should not myself have 
proposed it. I would have waited until the presence 
of the British subjects in Oregon, and their enjoy- | 
ment of the privileges secured by treaty had become 
uncomfortable to our people. The British always 
professed that they valued the territory merely for I 
its commercial privileges and for nothing else, and ' 
we have a right to take them at their word. Bjr 
giving the notice, as it seenis to me, we make a quasi 
admission that v.e have not a right to take the j 
s'/ps above alluded to without first giving the 
notice. These arc my opinions, and I am not pre- 
pared yet to relinquish them: but the President has 
had the subject under his eye, and has given to it 
much attention. He recommends the notice, and it 
may, and probabl)' will, turn out that he ia right. 
In cases where no practical principle is involved, and 
where the question presented is one of expediency 
merely, I will sustain my party friends, and the ad- 
ministration created by them. If you ask why I 
will do this, I v/ill say that it is necessary in order 
to harmonize our party, and that it is the only way 
to keep our whig friends beaten. But I have an- 
other reason for going for the notice — that I am in- 
structed positively by my constituents to go for it. 
There is not one democrat, and but very few whigs, 
among my con.'Jtiluents who would not unite in in- 
structing me to tl^at effect. 

Some gentlemer, -say that they will fiot vote for 
the notice for fear it should result in a war. Some 
have even suid that the notice will be, per se, cause 
of war. But the British negotiators never consider- 
ed that it would be a cause of war. How was it 
possible that those who framed the convention 
could have provided for tiie notice, if it was to be 
the cause of a war.' But others say that it is no 
cause for a war, and that, on the contrary, it will 
hasten an adjustment of the question; and that is 
probably a fair view of the I'ubject. Some say that 
It will irritate Great Britain — that it will wake her 
up, and alarm the fludson Bay Company, because 
it threatened their valuable firivileges, and induce 
them to strengthen themselves in Oregon. For the 
Q:ike of peace I would yield the British subjects 
their present commercial privileges for a good time 
to come; but this would be on condition of a full 
recognition of our light to Oregon; and I would sus- 
tain the President in making such a treaty after the 
notice was given. 

But I admit that the notice may tend to war, and 
very probably lead to it when it shall be carried out 
by the adoption of measures for taking possession of 
the territory, and practically asserting our rights by 
establishing a Territorial goveriunent, granting lands 
to settlers, and controlling the Indian tribes. But 
shall this prevent us from asserting our title? Ia 
that the attitude of the American people.' Shall we 
look across the waters, and ask Great Britain 
whether we shall be allowed to take possession of 
our own foil, of; our own continent.' Of course she 
would an.'-'wer, No. In my opinion, sir. v;e shall, 
at the end of the year, if not before, lake possession 
j of Oregon: and that may bring the iiatter to the 
issue of war. I think so because I believe that the 
I pretence of Great Britain that she wanted Oregon 
merely for a hurtiiig-ground is fcilsc: but that she 
places the highest value on it on account cfits com- 
taercial facilities. Great Britain had always been 



alert in improving her commerce with barbarous 
nations, for no commerce was more profitable. 

The Indian traders, as it was v/ell kjiown in our 
country, always reaped rich harvests. Great Brit- 
ain knows the value of Oregon, and I believe that 
she will fight for it; and 1 know that the American 
people will fight for it. The harbors of Oregon, 
fronting a barbarous world, atTord admirable facili- 
ties for carrying on trade; and barbarous nations 
are always the best cu.stomers of civilized people 
Northern Oregon would also be a manufacturing 
country, for it abounded in water power. Califor- 
nia will afford vast quantities of raw cotton for the 
supply of Oregon factories, and there is no difficulty 
in the navigation between Oregon and California. 
And so great is the supply of .ship tin^ber which 
Oregon furnishes, that more than half the ships of 
the world will in forty years be built in the northern 
part of that territory. The harbors of Paget's 
sound will afford naval stations, and through them 
we would soon command the whole commerce of 
the Pacific; without them, Oregon would not be 
■worth a straw to us, for there were no good harbors 
south of Puget's sound, and the major part of com- 
anercial and ship-buiidiog facilities are north of lati- 
tude 490. 

My doctrine is, to go ahead and assert our rights; 
and 93 to the results, not to stop to calculate them. 
1 will at least utter no boastful calculations as to the 
results. "Let not him who putteth on his armor 
boast himself as he who putteth it off." Even if 
we were certain that the results of a war would be 
at first adverse to us, yet should we vote for tha no- 
tice, and the other measures consequent upon k. 
We may safely put our trust in the justice of our 
cause and in the kind protection of divine Providence, 
and ihf struggle must end like our former wars — in 
a glorious triumph, and in the diffusion of our prin- 
ciples. 

The day v/ill come v.-Iien every interest and eve- 
ry party that is opposed to Oregon will crumble in- 
to dust. 1 have heard some speculations upon the 
consequences of our extension of territory, and of the 
annexation of the Mexican and other states to our 
Union. I do not want any mixed races in our 
Union, nnr men of any color except white, unless 
they be f'laves. Certainly, not as voters or legisla- 
tors. My constituents will never consent that iheir 
representative in this Jiall shall hold political discus- 
sion with the honorable colored member from Mex- 
ico. They know that this would lead to a political 
strife for asf'pndency betv^'een colors, ending in rev- 
olution and blood. 

If Mexico, after going through half a dozen more 
revolutions, should become capable of self-govern- 
ment, and apply for annexation, I would vote 
against it, unless her colored races should come in 
as slaves, or be otherwise excluded from political 
privileges. My constituents cannot agree to admit 
colored men to the exercise of the right of suffrage; 
and they cheerfully acquiesce in the representative 
basis which the constitution has provided for the 
fliave-holdmg States. Independent Slates, com- 
posed of white people thoroughly imbued with our 
principles of self-government, we will receive into 
our Union at theirown request; but even them we 
do not wish to coerce into our Union, or to annex 
by conquest. If v/e find a stray independency float- 
ing about, and v^anting protection, we will take it 
in. When the volcano, sleefiing in the bosom of 
the British empire, shall burst forth, and Canada 
shall be lopped off, it might be a question v^helher it 



shall be annexed to our Union. Should we con- 
quer it, we will give it back to Great Britain; for I 
do not wish to annex her loyal Scotch and English 
people. Her Irish and French inhabitants I might 
be willing to unite with; but it would take fifty 
years to learn the Scotch and English of Canada,^ 
un-Araericanized by association, the principles ot* 
our free institutions. 

The Irish make good citizens. They take to lib- 
erty naturally. Pat is an American from the word 
go. If Canada should ever become independen: 
and capable of self-government, and af)ply for an- 
nexation, v/e will think of it. But I would annex 
any part of the world where the American people 
go and settle, and form communities. We have 
done so, and we will do it again. 

This, sir, (said Mr. Vv .,) is a progressive question. 
Texas was so also; and it Great Britain wants a 
compromise with us, she had better speak at once. 
When the annexation of Texas was i)roposed here, 
I remember how fearful some gentlemen were in 
this Flouse, that the people would not sustain it;^ 
but they soon found that the people were ahead of 
them on the question, and were almo.st unanimous 
for the measure. When gentlemen first take their 
seats here, they sometimes itnagine themselves very 
wise, and think that wisdom will die with them; 
but after a v/hile they begin to find themselves mis- 
taken, particularly it'they try often to get the floor. A 
little experience here has learned many a man not to 
be wiser than his constituents. The same lesson may 
be learned again. Wc annexed the territory of Texas. 
We, in the northwest, charge nothing for ourassist- 
ance in that matter. We went "on our own hook" 
on that question, and if we had not done so, Indiana 
herself would have gone and taken it with a rush. 
The people, as usual, are ahead of their representa- 
tives; it was so on the Texan question, and it is so 
on this. If I should come back to this House at 
the next Congress, (and I think, perhaps, I may,) 1 
shall find, I fear, that several of my excellent old 
acquaintances will not be here, and they will owe 
iheir defeat to their opposition to this measure- 
This, I say, sir, is a progressive question, and before 
this Congress is ended the days of compromise will 
be ended. So, you who are trembling at the thought 
of war, and reasoning as to the value of rights, had 
better yield and obey the voice of the people. The 
people alone have the right to do a.nd command wrong. 
Your constituents at home, while yon are debating 
this question, are going strong for Oregon. They 
expected that, before this, we should have provided 
measures for the protection of emigrants, our friends 
and brothers, and their v/ives and children; and 
that by this time they would be with their horses 
and wagons on the road to Oregon. We will have 
to do it, or the people vnW send representatives here 
who will obey their voice. 

Note. — It would be totally unnecessary for Mr. 
Wick to explain any of his remark.^ to his own 
constituency, or to those who heard them. But his 
speech will be read by others, strangers to him, and 
his peculiarities of manner. To such, he has de- 
sired us to say, that some of his descriptions were 
intended to be caricatures, and especially that his 
description of the mode in which the citizens of the 
northwest assert their personal honor is so highly 
a caricature, that the fact represented would no: 
readily be guessed. The people of the northwest 
are essentially kind in feeling, peaceable, and mod- 
erate in their modes of seeking satisfaction for per- 
sonal griefs or insults. 



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